In the entertainment industry throughout the world, we find ourselves in the same boat. L-Acoustics’ Tim McCall has reached out to all rental companies, no matter what brand you keep, with a message that may help or inspire you. We are a creative and determined group of people, let’s think out the box and get through this.
Tim McCall with his friend, Shinga.
Hi Guys
Over the past few weeks we’ve seen unprecedented changes in our industry with many companies really staring down the barrel with all work disappearing overnight, having to retrench staff and look at ways to secure some income to ensure survival. Whilst some companies have been pretty proactive it might be worth reaching out to all your rental & event companies with something like the below list of potential options for other options we have come up with (this is specifically for EU given some of the websites, but you get an idea). I may send a version of this directly to our rental partners but let’s discuss.
Please find below a list of ideas that some of your industry colleagues have suggested. Some of these ideas might work for you, some you may already be aware of, and some ideas may not work for your company or in your country. All in all, my goal is to inspire you to find some business opportunities that can help you through this crisis:
Lease or hire your trucks to offset costs or generate turnover
There are some marketplaces where you can offer your trucks and vans for shipments in your area or to your area. Since demand has increased for deliveries, many businesses are searching for trucks and truck drivers. Use social media platforms and community groups to let people know what services you can offer.
Work in security
Due to the lockdown, some countries are seeing a huge demand for guards in the security business. If you know of a rental company who was forced to lay off or furlough employees, this could be an alternative for those workers.
Rent or sell your home-recording tools
Many home-confined artists are streaming concerts from home and need equipment. Some of our partners has seen a huge demand for tools like headsets and microphones with USB adapters. If you have similar or the same devices in your portfolio, perhaps you can meet this demand. If this is an avenue you are considering, make sure to clean all your gear before renting it out and educate artists about microphone hygiene.
Provide home office equipment for IT support companies
Some of you reached out to various corporate accounts to offer equipment and/or manpower to enable their workers to work from home. Some of your customers might welcome help in terms of manpower and equipment like microphones, headsets or speakers, LED-screens, etc. We learned of examples where rental companies are offering laptops etc. to companies which started to work from home for the first time because of this COVID19.
Support hospitals by providing Comms systems to Intensive Care units or other facilities.
These walkie-talkies facilitate safe communication between different teams in hospitals. Some of you have offered the use of your inventory for free, which created good PR for your company.
Offer your redundant CPU power to grind calculations to assist in finding cures for various diseases.
You can run it on any machine and specify how many cores of the CPU it uses if you want it to run in the background. As an example, look at: https://foldingathome.org. Again, some of you have already offered this for free and earned good PR.
Find work setting up temporary hospitals and converted hotels
Some countries have built temporary hospitals to accommodate the increased number of patients or have converted hotels to hospitals and a place for staff to rest. All these changes require equipment and manpower that is familiar with building temporary structures and working under pressure. This can include:
- Generators for emergency power
- Crew busses for hospital staff
- Trussing for cable management and temporary structures
- Workers who are used to working unsociable hours, without enough resources, and under pressure to a target
- Forklifts for logistics
- WiFi networks
- Temporary lighting, Screen signage
If you or your team has a moment to spare, there’s a great opportunity to improve your skills and knowledge. L-Acoustics is offering live webinars that stream each weekday at 8 am PST/5 pm CET.They are a great way to stay connected while gaining valuable insight from their experts. If you miss the live stream, you can find past episodes on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x5ikfHe1j8w&list=PLS8WDx14wIDvZX9MZ8qPCjX43XnIIEP3a
Stay safe, Stay home, Save Lives
